Head Over Heels
by MedliSage
Summary: And everything about this moment, from the small yet warm smile on Mikleo's face, to the way his body fit into Sorey's arms, and the way the ethereal light of the ruins hit his hair and eyes and made them shimmer and sparkle - it was a moment that seemed too perfect to be real, and also too natural to be fake. [pre-game suremiku fluff.]


"Come on, come on!" Sorey said, picking up his pace a bit and motioning for the one behind him to do the same. "Aren't you excited?"

"I am. But I'd be less excited if I was tearing around like you and walked headlong into a trap because I forgot to be careful." Mikleo wore a small smile on his face, despite his criticisms.

Sorey only laughed, turning on his heel to face Mikleo as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, sorry. But we've never been to this part, who knows what we'll find?"

To that, Mikleo had no kind of retort and only let out what could only be called a short, soft giggle.

Sorey grinned widely and turned back to face the path ahead of him. "Look, I think we're almost at the end of this."

The passageway they were in was somewhat dark - there were torches along the walls that obviously had been lit at some point in time, but without those for light, all that remained was the cracks along the ceiling, which were few and far in between. Still, when one was above them, a stream of light would shine down right on Sorey's head, like it had when he had turned around and smiled at Mikleo, making his eyes sparkle more than they usually did when he was this excited. Mikleo's smile widened a bit at the memory.

The passageway did indeed end after another fifteen feet or so. It connected them into a rectangular room, which only seemed to be adorned with a large door on the opposite side and not much else.

Without hesitation Sorey walked to the door and pushed. "It won't open," he said after giving it one more harder push with his shoulder. "It doesn't feel like it's stuck from decay or there's something blocking it, though."

"There could be some kind of mechanism," Mikleo said, walking along the perimeter, his eyes scanning the walls.

"Yeah, look here," Sorey said, his eyes on one side of the door. His fingers ran along a square protrusion in it, about as large as his head. He pushed it and it slid into the door. "Can you push the one in on the other side?"

Mikleo nodded, starting to walk from his corner of the room over to Sorey. Judging from the long passageway they had traversed and the large door in front of them, it was obvious this next room was important. A ceremonial room? A storage room for treasure and other important goods? Perhaps -

"Mikleo, stop!"

Mikleo's next step was done before Sorey had even finished, and without delay the stone tile that was once under him folded under itself, and Mikleo was plummeting into the pit under him. He reached in front of himself, knowing before he saw it that Sorey would already be reaching out to him - he smiled.

His smile lasted less than a second, though, because the distance was too much and their fingertips only grazed before he continued his fall.

Mikleo let out a groan of pain as he slammed into the ground. Thankfully it was earth and not more stone below him, so the impact wasn't so bad - he had, however, landed right on one of his ankles, and he could already feel it swelling.

"Mikleo! Are you okay?!" Sorey nearly shouted, already on his knees and leaning over the pit.

"I'm fine," Mikleo assured him. "There's nothing down here."

Sorey gave a sigh of relief. Without delay, though, he leaned down further, reaching down to Mikleo. "Come on, I'll pull you up."

Mikleo stood a bit slowly, careful to put his weight more on his uninjured ankle. His other one only seemed to hurt when he moved it or put pressure on it, so it was likely something that would heal fairly quickly - still, any walking from this point on would be painful.

"It's a good thing you warned me about being so careful earlier," Sorey said as he pulled Mikleo up, a smile on his face. "So I could avoid that obviously fake tile."

"Oh, quiet," Mikleo said, fighting to keep the smile off his face. "This has happened to you way more than it has to me."

"As if."

Mikleo opened his mouth to give another retort, but stopped with a sharp inhale of pain as he stepped up onto the ground level and his foot nearly gave out under him.

Before he could even stagger a bit Sorey's hands were on his shoulders, holding him up with a warm touch. "Whoa, are you sure you're okay?"

"I am," Mikleo said, looking back up to find that Sorey's face was only a few inches from his own - which made sense, since he had leaned forward to catch him, so it didn't make much sense that Mikleo had just felt his heart nearly jump out of his chest. He cast his eyes to the side quickly. "I just landed on my ankle. I'm sure it will be fine soon."

"You shouldn't walk on it, that'll make it worse," Sorey said before pausing in thought. "Come here."

"Wait -" Mikleo started, but there was no time to protest as Sorey leaned down and slipped on arm under his knees and one around his back, picking him up in one swift motion.

"You're light, it's easy," Sorey said, looking down and giving him a smile. "At least for a bit, okay?"

There was no arguing - his mind was made up. Mikleo knew that, and yet still he felt the need to protest. If Sorey carrying him wasn't already unnecessary, surely carrying him like… this… at the very least could be avoided.

But Mikleo ultimately said nothing. Perhaps to save himself the time of debating over it, or because - just perhaps - the warmth of Sorey's chest against his body was too nice, or the reassuring way his arms held him was too relaxing. But surely it was the first option.

And so Mikleo merely let out a small sight of false annoyance. "You worry too much."

"Says you. Now let's see," Sorey said, walking back over to the door, now with Mikleo in his arms. "If I push this one," he said, shifting so that he could still push the stone down while holding him, "can you still reach the one over there?"

Mikleo turned his head and stretched his arm, barely making it far enough to reach the other side of the door and push the opposing stone into it. There was then a soft _click_ following by the low rumble of the nearly ancient mechanism moving.

"Alright!" Sorey said, smiling at Mikleo, who could not help but return the sentiment.

The door slid apart down the middle, slowly sinking into the walls. Sorey and Mikleo leaned forward as the gap in front of them grew wider, slipping past just as soon as there was enough room for them to get through.

What awaited them on the other side was a circular room, larger than the last by not by much. Instead of being dimly lit with worn out torches lining the sides, however, it was illuminated naturally quite well; the ceiling had holes through it, skylights of sorts, though they weren't letting as much light in as they likely once used to, due to the vines and other plants that now grew along them. Still, it was enough to see better than previous rooms - it was easy to notice the entirety of the ornamental structure of the room, from the words and murals that covered the walls to detailed carvings on the pillars on each side of the room.

"Wow," Sorey awed, looking around as he took it all in.

"That's an understatement," Mikleo said. "This room was definitely used for some kind of ceremonial purpose. Why don't we look closer at the walls?"

"Yeah," Sorey agreed, walking them over to one side of the room. Naturally all the words carved before them were in the ancient language, and after some paragraphs there followed images in the stone. "Look. Do you think this has to do with the Shepherd?" Sorey thought aloud, eyes moving across the images in front of them. "Most of these pictures seem to depict two people. One of them is a tenzoku, but I think the other's human."

"I think that second part is right," Mikleo replied, "but I don't think it has to do with the Shepherd. I don't see any of his symbols anywhere."

"But it says here…" Sorey cleared his throat, leaning forward as he strained to read the eroded and faded text. "...'to which unto we pass down these sacred words… of which to bind the two.' Doesn't that sound a lot like how a Shepherd takes a tenzoku and they're able to use each other's powers… or however it works?"

"It does… but…" Mikleo sighed in thought. "Look, we haven't found anything else pertaining to the Shepherd in these ruins yet. I just think that this could perhaps be talking about something else."

"Well," Sorey said after taking a deep breath, "I can try to read more of it. A lot of this is so faded though, I dunno how much more of it I can make out. And some bits of it especially look like they're written in a really archaic way. I mean, even for the ancient language."

Mikleo looked at him, giving him a small smile. "Regardless, this is a big find. We've never seen a room like this before."

Sorey nodded eagerly. "Mm! It's fascinating. ...And also," he went on, his gaze drifting away from Mikleo, "it just makes me happy. I mean, if this has nothing to do with the Shepherd, then it looks like maybe even regular people existed this closely to the tenzoku at one point. It makes me happy. They're just like us," Sorey said, his eyes back on the wall, sparkling with enthusiasm.

Mikleo felt his lips curving into a smile of their own volition. "...Mm. They are."

Sorey looked down and Mikleo, positively beaming. He was lucky - they had something special. Whatever may come in his life, he knew Mikleo would always be by his side, for better or for worse; and even if Sorey didn't know that many people, he knew that was something that not everyone was fortunate enough to have. And everything about this moment, from the small yet warm smile on Mikleo's face, to the way his body fit into Sorey's arms, and the way the ethereal light of the ruins hit his hair and eyes and made them shimmer and sparkle - it was a moment that seemed too perfect to be real, and also too natural to be fake.

After moments had passed in silence, Mikleo tilted his head a bit. "Sorey?"

"Oh," Sorey said simply, as he let out what could only be described as a small, sheepish giggle. "Sorry, I spaced out." He cleared his throat again as he looked back to the wall. "Anyway, uh, okay. Let's see." His eyes ran along the text, slower than usual, trying to make sure he didn't miss a thing - that seemed impossible, though, given not only the old style in which it was written, but also the fact that large amounts of it were faded, some smaller pieces of it being made completely illegible. "...Mm… I can understand that it was some sort of ceremony that took place between a human and a tenzoku, but I can't understand what the purpose was," he said, frowning in thought. "And the pictures don't really elaborate." All it seemed like was happening in the pictures was a human and tenzoku standing next to each other, after all.

"Then what's this other tenzoku?" Mikleo asked, pointing at one of the drawings. This one had an additional tenzoku standing in front of the other one and the human. "Are they apart of the ceremony?"

"I think… oh, wait," Sorey said, moving closer to that part of the inscription. "Look, there's something written above him. '...One who… seals?' But seals what?"

"It looks like he's using some kind of seraphic arte," Mikleo suggested. "Look at the circle around them. Maybe he's creating some kind of domain."

"Oh, yeah, it does look like that!" Sorey said with a smile.

Mikleo held in a giggle. It was cute how even such a small breakthrough would excite him.

"Maybe he's sealing the tenzoku and the human in the domain…?" Sorey smiled again, laughing just a bit. "Now it's still like us, and that's Jiji." Mikleo laughed a little in turn, and Sorey's eyes fell to the next part of text. "Wow, look at this sentence. It doesn't even look like the ancient tongue. I mean, it's the same characters, but I have no idea what it's supposed to mean." He paused, reading it over once again before repeating it aloud. "And look," he said after finishing, "there's another one here." He cleared his throat before he started to say it - or tried to. Instead he coughed, the dryness of his throat spiking. "S-sorry," he said, stammering as he let out one more smaller cough.

Mikleo shook his head, before reading the next sentence aloud in the ancient language. "...That's what it says, right? I can't understand what it means either. But more importantly, you need to drink something. You're probably a bit dehydrated."

Mikleo was right, of course. They hadn't planned to be in the ruins that long today, and so naturally they hadn't packed water. But naturally they had gotten caught up in one thing and the next and had been here quite a long time. "Even if I do, there's no water around this area," Sorey said, his voice a bit raspy. "Oh, but couldn't you conjure some?"

Mikleo brought a hand to his chin in thought. "I could, but we still have no container for it." He paused, eyes glancing around the room. "Could you put me down?"

"But what about your ankle?"

"I told you, it's fine. Besides, I'm not going to really walk."

"If you say so," Sorey said, before reluctantly lowering his arms and gingerly setting Mikleo down, keeping one hand on his back until he was absolutely sure he had his balance.

"Could you put some water in my hands, and I could drink it like that?" Sorey asked.

"No way," Mikleo said firmly. "Your hands are all dirty from exploring. And they're not going to get clean just from some water. And mine aren't really any better. You'll get sick."

"I think you're being nitpicky, but what, do you have a better idea?"

For a moment, Mikleo said nothing. He did, however, turn his eyes away from Sorey. "Well," he started, pausing again, causing Sorey to almost say something before he continued again. "Um… when I get thirsty, usually I just…" His voice fell even quieter, barely above a mumble now. "I… I conjure water in my mouth and drink it like that."

"Oh," Sorey said simply at the explanation. "Well - oh,"he said again, mind freezing as the implication set in. Wait, what implication? Surely Mikleo couldn't have meant it like - like _that._

Though the fact that Mikleo's eyes hadn't yet left the ground told Sorey all he needed to know.

Sorey's heart beat faster as he tried so hard to usher away all the wrong thoughts that were coming into his head. Of course Mikleo hadn't meant it like that, because this wasn't _like_ anything. This was simply the best way to get him water and the reason Mikleo was refusing to look at him was probably because he was worried Sorey was going make it awkward. Which he was.

"Okay," Sorey said quickly. "I - I mean, if you're okay with that, then. It's… probably for the best."

"It - it would be bad if you dehydrated," Mikleo said.

"Yeah," Sorey agreed all too quickly. "You're right. I mean, you're injured already, so… we can't afford to take any unnecessary risks," he said, in every way just affirming his position, rather than trying to convince himself that that was wholly true.

"Right."

A moment went by and neither of them moved or said anything. Mikleo still refused to meet Sorey's eyes, and so Sorey was stuck staring at his hair that sparkled in the ethereal light. His hair that was so fluffy and soft looking that Sorey could only imagine the ease with which he could run his fingers through it as he held his hands there, with Mikleo's lips against his and Mikleo's hands holding his shoulders, and -

Sorey nearly physically shook off that dangerous train of thought, but there was no need - his brain froze completely when Mikleo quickly placed his hands on his face and tilted it down, eyes shut as he gingerly pressing his mouth against his.

In that short moment it was as if the world stopped around them; Mikleo's lips were soft, too soft, softer than Sorey had ever imagined - not that it was something he ever thought about. They were warm, too, a contrast to the slight coolness of his hands - though just maybe, Sorey wondered, his hands only felt cool because he was sure his face was burning up.

He closed his eyes as he felt more of Mikleo's weight press into his chest - it made Sorey's heart leap, until he realized it was only because Mikleo was having trouble balancing in between being on his tip toes and the fact that his ankle was likely still in pain. Without a thought - though it was just to help him, of course - Sorey quickly brought his arms around Mikleo's waist. And he was sure it was just because of the surprise that he felt Mikleo's body tense and then relax twice as fast.

Their lips were touching so gently that had it not been for the fact that Mikleo's lips were so distinctly warm and soft, Sorey might not have noticed when Mikleo pulled back. Still, he only pulled back a few centimeters - probably because Sorey's arms were still securely wrapped around him.

For a few moments there was silence. Neither of them dared look at the other, their eyes cast downward.

Eventually, Mikleo's hands started to slowly fall from Sorey's face down to his chest."Um," he said, barely audible, "I… I think for this to work, you'll need to - open your mouth a bit," he finished quickly, voice somehow even quieter.

"O-oh." Sorey's face felt like it was on fire - god, he was being _so_ ridiculous right now, he was making this way harder and more awkward than it had to be - Mikleo was just trying to help him, and here he was being like - like this. "Right. Sorry."

Mikleo shook his head just the tiniest bit, trying to assuage him without words.

The silence fell again and persisted. Sorey took a deep, slightly uneven breath - surely, it would be better if he just got it over with. "Mikleo," he said quietly.

And then Sorey had meant to say something else, he really had, something like "let me try again," but the second Mikleo looked up at him, his face pink and his lips looking softer than ever, Sorey simply leaned down and pushed their lips together again.

It was more forceful than he had intended - really, he hadn't intended to do it in the first place - and Mikleo let out a cute noise of surprise. Sorey pulled him closer - just to apologize, of course - and Mikleo's fingers curled ever so slightly into the fabric of his shirt.

Sorey's head was spinning.

Only a moment later he felt Mikleo's lips start to move against his, and he instantly reciprocated the motion - the slowness of their actions let Sorey take in every detail of it all, from the way Mikleo's lips fit against his just too perfectly to the way his body seemed to be sinking even deeper into his with each second. It was honestly almost tortuous, and it felt so good and Sorey's heart was hammering against his chest and screaming at him to pull Mikleo into it and _really, truly_ kiss him -

He nearly jumped when Mikleo's mouth opened a bit more and Sorey felt a coldness against his lips. Right - the water. The whole reason they were doing this. His heart sank a bit, but still he opened his mouth a little, letting the cool liquid in and quickly swallowing it.

This went on for a minute or two, the small portions of water feeling like a blessing on his dry throat. But still it didn't feel quite as nice as when Mikleo would open his mouth a little more and his tongue would slide across Sorey's lips. Sorey tried to push the fact that he knew it was just to get the water over out of his mind.

To help things along - that was all - Sorey gently pushed his tongue forward and it took everything in him not to moan a bit when it touched Mikleo's. His heart felt like it was nearly about to jump out of his chest - hopefully Mikleo would be done soon, because honestly it was getting to be too much to bear.

Ironically enough Mikleo only pushed his tongue further in, hitting a part of Sorey's mouth that made his heart leap and a moan barely make it out of his throat.

It was too much.

Trying to keep some semblance of casualness, Sorey slowly slid his tongue over Mikleo's, taking in every detail of the other's mouth - it was small, just like Mikleo's slender frame pressing against him ever further. He held him closer and their teeth bumped together just a bit, and Sorey sucked on his tongue as if to apologize - and he felt Mikleo's whole body shiver against him, and it was like electricity shot down Sorey's whole body, from his mouth all the way to -

Mikleo pulled away all too quickly, and fighting the urge not to go back in - especially when Sorey caught a glimpse of Mikleo's wet and slightly swollen lips - was easily one of the hardest thing Sorey had ever done.

"Um," Mikleo said, his eyes cast down, "was… that enough?"

"Oh - yeah. Yeah, thank you."

And again it was quiet.

It was as Sorey was pulling his brain away from trying to remember in perfect detail the way Mikleo's tongue felt against his that he realized he was still holding Mikleo around the waist. "Oh, sorry," he said hastily, returning his arms to his sides with more reluctance than he had meant.

Mikleo shook his head. "It's fine," he said, turning the other way. "Um, do you want to keep trying to read the wall?"

"Yeah - yeah, that's a good idea," flashing the most casual and reassuring smile he could as he walked to Mikleo's other side. "So, where were we," he said, eyes glancing at the text. "Right. This part that's written really archaic. Well, look, after that it goes back to something more normal, and it's not so faded. 'And the domain of the one who seals shall provide the blessing for the two. Now that they have said the ancient vows and shared a kiss, they shall live together in happiness, no matter what may come.' ...And that's it. So what does that mean?"

He looked over to Mikleo for input, but his eyes were glued to the wall, one hand over his mouth.

"Oh!" Sorey said suddenly, turning his attention back to it with a smile on his face, "Wow, do you think this could be some kind of marriage ceremony? That's amazing! I mean, if human and tenzoku got married, then that's the most proof we could ask for that they used to live side by side!" He quickly turned back to Mikleo, his smile a mile wide.

But Mikleo's eyes were now on the ground, bangs obscuring his face, though Sorey could still see the redness coloring his cheeks. Had Sorey really made the water thing that awkward? Or -

His eyes caught a glimpse of one of the pictures on the wall behind him and Sorey's heart stopped.

Sorey had said the first vow, Mikleo had said the other. They were in Jiji's domain. They had kissed.

Sorey's face felt like it was on fire. He had _carried_ Mikleo down the damn _aisle._

"Um," he said, trying to think of something, anything, to break the tension. "I mean, this is a pretty big find. And we've been here longer than we meant to, so - do you want to start going back to Izuchi?"

Mikleo nodded, still refusing to meet Sorey's eyes. "It'll be dark soon, anyway." He took a step toward to the exit, but let out a quiet gasp of pain as he stepped on his foot.

"Mikleo," Sorey said, stepping in front of him and holding one of his shoulders, "I - I really think you should let me carry you. That'll take forever to heal if you walk on it, and it's… it's not that far. At least part of the way?"

Mikleo glanced up at him, and then back down, before nodding once, slowly. "Fine. ...Thank you."

Sorey gave him a small smile, and then without delay slipped one arm around his back and the other under his knees, easily picking him up. Perhaps - just perhaps, he should have put him on his back this time. But as they started to walk out of the room, and Sorey felt Mikleo's head lean against his shoulder and his hands against his chest, he smiled to himself.

This was probably how things were meant to be.

* * *

...and then they consummated the marriage LOL (ok well maybe i'll write that another time)

i couldn't bother to proofread orz i'm sorry... shout out to sienna and amanda, your kind words were a big push for me to get to working on this ;A;

and thanks to everyone who reads! i really appreciate it


End file.
